Down the Frozen River

Tag: Par Lindholm

  • Krug’s rocket leads Bruins to, 2-1, win in OT in Florida

    Torey Krug and the Boston Bruins pulled off a, 2-1, comeback win in overtime against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night at BB&T Center.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (18-6-6 record, 2.39 goals against average, .919 save percentage in 31 games played), made 32 saves on 33 shots against for a .970 SV% in the win.

    Florida netminder, Chris Driedger (5-2-1, 2.29 GAA, .932 SV% in 10 games played) stopped 26 out of 28 shots faced for a .929 SV% in the overtime loss.

    The B’s improved to 43-13-12 (98 points) on the season and remain in command of the Atlantic Division, while the Panthers fell to 33-26-8 (74 points) and stuck in 4th place in the Atlantic.

    Boston improved to 21-10-3 on the road this season, as well.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) on Thursday night, while head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made one change to his lineup among his forwards– moving Sean Kuraly back to center the fourth line with Anders Bjork replacing Par Lindholm at left wing.

    Lindholm was joined by John Moore, Anton Blidh and Karson Kuhlman in the press box as Boston’s healthy scratches in Florida.

    Midway through the opening frame, Ondrej Kase awkwardly collided with Evgenii Dadonov, leaving Kase on his hands and knees and (somehow) a minor penalty for tripping Dadonov at 11:41 of the first period.

    Florida did not convert on their first power play opportunity of the night.

    A few minutes later, after Nick Ritchie tried to mix things up with Dadonov for the incidental contact with Kase that sent Kase down the tunnel before re-emerging from Boston’s dressing room moments after Jake DeBrusk served Kase’s minor for tripping Dadonov– Ritchie went square dancing with Riley Stillman.

    The two players exchanged fisticuffs and received five-minute majors for fighting at 14:35 in what was the 18th fight this season for Boston– and the 11th since Jan. 1st.

    It was Ritchie’s first fight in 46 personal games played this season and Stillman’s second fighting major in 33 personal games this season.

    Less than a minute to go in the first period, Mike Matheson tripped up Brad Marchand and was sent to the penalty box as a result at 19:01.

    Boston did not convert on their first skater advantage of the night.

    Heading into the first intermission, the game was still tied, 0-0, while the Bruins led in shots on goal, 12-4.

    The Panthers held the advantage in takeaways (8-4), hits (9-6) and faceoff win percentage (67-33), while the B’s led in giveaways (6-4).

    Both teams had six blocked shots aside and were 0/1 on the power play.

    Early in the middle frame, MacKenzie Weegar (6) kicked things off with a one-timer from the point that beat Halak over the blocker with net front screen by Lucas Wallmark.

    Brett Connolly (14) and Wallmark (13) had the assist’s on Weegar’s goal and Florida jumped out to a, 1-0, lead at 6:55 of the second period.

    Moments later, Dadonov threw an errant elbow on a reverse check in the corner, leaving Bruins defender, Brandon Carlo dazed as he was helped off the ice.

    Carlo did not return to the game and was ruled out by Boston’s public relations team with an upper body in a tweet during the third period.

    Dadonov was originally assessed a five-minute major penalty on the play, but a review lessened the infraction to two-minutes for elbowing at 10:46 of the second period.

    The 30-year-old forward is a pending-unrestricted free agent at season’s end and has 25-21–46 totals in 67 games with the Panthers this season and has never been fined or suspended in his National Hockey League career (2009-12, 2017-present).

    As a result of Thursday night’s loss, Florida is still four points outside of a playoff spot.

    Boston’s power play unit didn’t take long while Dadonov was in the box to capitalize on the skater advantage as Krug rocketed a shot from the point that Patrice Bergeron (30) tipped in to reach the 30-goal plateau for the sixth time in his career (2003-present).

    In doing so, Bergeron became the sixth Bruin in franchise history to record at least six 30-goal seasons, joining Phil Esposito (eight 30-goal seasons with Boston), Rick Middleton (eight), Johnny Bucyk (seven), Cam Neely (six) and Peter McNab (six).

    Krug (39) and Marchand (57) notched the assists on Bergeron’s power play tally at 11:00 of the middle frame and the Bruins tied the game, 1-1.

    Less than a minute later, Boston was back on the power play as Aleksander Barkov tripped up DeBrusk at 11:48, but the B’s weren’t able to convert on their third power play of the night.

    Shortly after the Panthers killed off Barkov’s infraction, Florida went on the power play after Marchand caught Mike Hoffman with a hook at 15:06.

    The Panthers didn’t score on the advantage, however.

    With 1:59 remaining in the period, Anton Stralman took a puck to the face off an inadvertent deflection, but remained in the game.

    Through 40 minutes of action at BB&T Center, the Bruins and Panthers were tied, 1-1, on the scoreboard with Florida holding an edge in shots on goal, 19-17.

    Boston led in blocked shots (10-8), hits (16-14) and faceoff win% (57-43), while Florida led in takeaways (10-8) and giveaways (11-9).

    The Panthers were 0/2 on the advantage, while the Bruins were 1/3 on the power play heading into the second intermission.

    Frank Vatrano slashed Jeremy Lauzon at 2:04 of the third period and was sent to the sin bin as a result, but Boston’s power play was cut short when Charlie Coyle tripped Stralman at 2:58.

    The two sides escaped 4-on-4 action unharmed, but upon Vatrano’s re-admittance to the game, No. 77 in Panthers red and blue played the puck while one of his legs was still in the penalty box– resulting in an automatic interference minor penalty at 4:06.

    Once more, the two clubs skated at 4-on-4 even strength until David Pastrnak got his stick between the legs of Barkov and brought down the Florida captain at 4:54 of the third period.

    The Panthers emerged with an abbreviated power play after the two sides went through 4-on-4 action again, but Florida remained powerless on the power play.

    At the end of regulation, the score remained tied, 1-1, and the Panthers led in shots on goal, 31-24.

    Florida maintained the advantage in takeaways (12-10) and hits (24-21), while Boston led in faceoff win% (53-48).

    Both teams had 14 blocked shots and 14 giveaways aside.

    As there were no penalties called in overtime, the Panthers finished the night 0/4 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/4.

    In overtime, Florida’s head coach, Joel Quenneville, opted to start Barkov, Hoffman and Aaron Ekblad, while Cassidy countered the Panthers’ trio with Coyle, DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy.

    Late in the five-minute overtime period, after both teams swapped chance for chance, Pastrnak worked to retrieve a puck along the end boards that was sent in by Krug.

    No. 88 in black and gold sent a pass back to Krug at the point, where No. 47 then wound up and blasted a slap shot past Driedger to end the game in overtime.

    Krug’s (9) goal was assisted by Pastrnak (46) and David Krejci (29) at 4:08 of the overtime period and lifted the Bruins over the Panthers, 2-1.

    Boston finished the game with victory on the scoreboard, but trailed Florida in shots on goal, 33-28.

    The Panthers also held the advantage in giveaways (15-14) and hits (24-22), while the Bruins led in faceoff win% (52-48).

    Both teams finished with 14 blocked shots each.

    Florida fell to 2-4 in overtime this season and 4-8 overall past regulation, while Boston improved to 6-2 in overtime and 6-12 past 60 minutes overall in the regular season.

    The Bruins improved to 13-2-6 (6-1-0 on the road) when tied after the first period, 18-6-4 (8-5-1 on the road) when giving up the game’s first goal and 11-2-2 (6-2-0 on the road) when tied after two periods this season.

    Meanwhile, the Panthers fell to 11-9-4 (4-5-2 at home) when tied after the first period, 25-5-4 (14-2-3 at home) when scoring the game’s first goal and 2-4-4 (0-3-2 at home) when tied after two periods this season.

    Boston wrapped up their three-game road trip (3-0-0) on Thursday and plays host to the Tampa Bay Lightning at TD Garden on Saturday.

  • DTFR Podcast #183- Loyalty Loyalty Loyalty

    DTFR Podcast #183- Loyalty Loyalty Loyalty

    Nick talks a little about why Joe Thornton didn’t get traded and the moves the Boston Bruins made leading to the trade deadline.

    Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and/or on Spotify. Support the show on Patreon.

  • Canucks down Bruins, 9-3

    The Vancouver Canucks routed the Boston Bruins, 9-3, at Rogers Arena on Saturday night in what was Boston’s third game in four nights of traveling.

    That said, Canucks goaltender, Jacob Markstrom (23-16-4 record, 2.75 goals against average, .918 save percentage in 43 games played) made 34 saves on 37 shots against for a .918 SV% in 58:12 time on ice en route to the win.

    Meanwhile, his teammate and Canucks backup goaltender, Thatcher Demko (10-6-2, 3.03 GAA, .905 SV% in 20 games played) made a brief relief appearance for a 1:48 span after Markstrom took an inadvertent stick through the cage of his mask early in the first period.

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (23-6-6, 2.17 GAA, .928 SV% in 36 games played) stopped 21 out of 27 shots faced for a .778 SV% in the loss.

    Rask was replaced by Jaroslav Halak (16-6-6, 2.42 GAA, .918 SVT in 29 games played) after amassing 46:28 TOI and allowing six goals.

    Halak came into the game during a stoppage in play after a Bruins power play goal in the second period and turned aside five out of the eight shots he faced for a .625 SV% en route to no decision in Boston’s loss.

    All four goaltenders that dressed for the game took part in the action on Saturday– on a night in the National Hockey League where, 42-year-old, emergency backup goaltender, Dave Ayres, stole the show for the Carolina Hurricanes in their, 6-3, victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road.

    Also, the Arizona Coyotes beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 7-3, on Saturday night.

    Apparently goaltending was optional league wide for one night only!

    Boston fell to 39-12-12 (90 points) on the season, but remained in command of the entire league standings, while Vancouver improved to 33-22-6 (72 points) and rose to 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

    The B’s also fell to 18-10-3 on the road this season, while the Canucks improved to 20-7-4 at home this season.

    February 9, 2016 was the last time Boston allowed nine goals (a, 9-2, loss on home ice to the Los Angeles Kings).

    Once more, the Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body/conditioning loan) on Saturday night.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Friday night’s, 4-3, win in Calgary to Saturday night’s action in Vancouver.

    Joakim Nordstrom, Par Lindholm and John Moore were healthy scratches for Boston, while Ondrej Kase was a de facto healthy scratch as he won’t meet up with the team until Monday for practice at Warrior Ice Arena after having been acquired by the Bruins on Friday.

    Kase hasn’t played since Feb. 7th due to an illness and was skating with the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday prior to being traded the following day.

    A little past the four-minute mark in the action, the Canucks struck first with a blast from Troy Stecher (4) from the faceoff dot, off of Rask, then off the post and over the goal line– giving Vancouver the game’s first lead, 1-0.

    Tyler Motte (4) and Jay Beagle (5) recorded the assists on Stecher’s goal at 4:14 of the first period.

    Less than a few minutes later, Boston responded on the scoreboard with a goal of their own– tying the game, 1-1, when David Pastrnak (44) deked and wrapped the rubber biscuit around Markstrom with a forehand goal after breaking into the zone on a breakaway thanks to a stretch pass from Matt Grzelcyk through the neutral zone.

    Grzelcyk (15) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s first goal of the night at 7:06 of the first period. The goal tied Pastrnak for the most goals by a Bruin in a season since Glen Murray scored 44 goals in the 2002-03 season.

    Moments later, Danton Heinen caught Markstrom with an errant stick while engaged in a net front battle and accidentally clipped the Canucks goaltender inside the cage with the blade of his stick.

    There was no penalty on the play and Markstrom was forced to briefly leave the game before returning almost two minutes later.

    In the meantime, Jeremy Lauzon received a holding infraction against Elias Pettersson at the other end of the ice at 10:21 of the first period, which provided Markstrom with the chance to replace Demko at the stoppage in the action.

    Less than a minute later, Canucks captain, Bo Horvat (19), rocketed a one-timer from the high slot past Rask while Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo were split chasing J.T. Miller deep into the corner (from where the one-timer opportunity was generated by Miller to Horvat) and protecting the front of the crease.

    Miller (36) and Vancouver’s newest forward, Tyler Toffoli (18), tallied the assists on Horvat’s power play goal and the Canucks led, 2-1, at 11:08 of the opening frame.

    About four minutes later, Horvat took a trip to the penalty box for a holding minor against Brad Marchand and presented Boston with their first power play opportunity of the night at 15:34.

    Boston’s power play was cut short when Patrice Bergeron also cut a rut to the sin bin for holding against Motte at 17:13– resulting in 21 seconds of 4-on-4 action before the Canucks had an abbreviated power play.

    Neither team was able to score on the special teams action.

    After one period of play in Vancouver on Saturday, the Canucks led the Bruins, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 17-12, in shots on goal.

    Vancouver also held the advantage in every other statistical category, including blocked shots (4-1), takeaways (7-4), giveaways (5-0), hits (14-10) and faceoff win percentage (57-43).

    The Canucks were 1/2 on the power play, while the Bruins were 0/1 on the skater advantage heading into the first intermission.

    Early in the middle frame, Adam Gaudette (11) wired a shot under the bar and over Rask’s glove from close range to extend Vancouver’s lead to two-goals.

    Quinn Hughes (40) notched the only assist on Gaudette’s goal and Vancouver led, 3-1, at 5:32 of the second period.

    Late in the period, the Canucks added a pair of goals when Tanner Pearson (18) pocketed a rebound to extend Vancouver’s lead to three-goals at 14:48.

    Loui Eriksson (6) and Tyler Myers (13) had the assists on Pearson’s goal, which made it, 4-1, for the Canucks before Eriksson (6) tallied a goal of his own after stuffing in a loose puck off a deflection in the slot to make it, 5-1, for the Canucks.

    Horvat (29) and Alexander Edler (21) recorded the primary and secondary assists on Eriksson’s goal at 15:39 of the second period.

    Less than a minute later, Chara took exception to Myers’ hit on Karson Kuhlman in front of the benches and attempted to engage the Vancouver defender in an exchange of fisticuffs, but the Canucks blue liner didn’t want any part of it.

    As a result, Myers was assessed a minor for roughing, while Chara picked up two roughing minors at 16:37– yielding a power play to the Canucks in the waning moments of the middle frame.

    With less than a minute left in the second period, Charlie Coyle and Horvat got into a scrap and traded punches.

    Both players received five-minute majors for fighting at 19:30 and were sent to the dressing room 30 seconds ahead of everyone else.

    Through 40 minutes of action in Vancouver, the Canucks led on the scoreboard, 5-1, and in shots on goal, 25-24.

    The Canucks also maintained the advantage in blocked shots (11-2), takeaways (12-6), giveaways (8-3) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Bruins led in hits (25-23).

    Vancouver was 1/3 on the skater advantage, while Boston was 0/1 on the power play heading into the third period.

    Less than a minute into the final frame of regulation, Pettersson (25) snapped a wrist shot over Rask’s blocker side and into the twine.

    Miller (37) and Stecher (9) had the assists on Pettersson’s goal and the Canucks led, 6-1, 46 seconds into the third period.

    Moments later, Antoine Roussel caught Torey Krug with a high stick at 5:25 of the third period and presented the B’s with their second power play of the night.

    This time around, Boston made sure to capitalize on the skater advantage.

    Pastrnak (45) blasted one of his patented power play goals behind Markstrom to cut the deficit to four-goals at 6:28.

    Krug (34) and Marchand (54) tallied the assists as Pastrnak picked up his 45th goal of the season– becoming the highest goal-scoring Bruin since Murray in 2002-03– and the B’s trailed, 6-2.

    Before the ensuing faceoff, Cassidy replaced Rask with Halak in the crease.

    Less than two minutes later, Boston began to mount some momentum with another quick goal from Chris Wagner (5)– his first goal in 18 games– after Wagner followed up on his own rebound and slipped in a backhand goal to make it, 6-3, at 8:11 of the third period.

    Grzelcyk (16) and Sean Kuraly (16) had the assists on Wagner’s first goal since Jan. 7th.

    Boston’s surge in momentum didn’t last long as Toffoli (19) slapped a one-timer past Halak about three minutes later.

    Miller (38) had the only assist on Toffoli’s first goal and once again worked the puck from the end boards back to a teammate for the surefire one-timer goal at 11:10 of the third period and the Canucks led, 7-3.

    Less than two minutes later, after Halak managed to stop multiple consecutive shots, finally the Canucks slipped a shot through as chaos ensued in front of the net.

    Toffoli (20) mustered his second goal of the game and extended Vancouver’s lead back to five-goals.

    Hughes (41) had the only assist on Toffoli’s second goal at 13:03 and the Canucks led, 8-3.

    Finally, Jake Virtanen (17) snaked his way through the neutral zone and beat Halak clean with a wrist shot goal past Halak’s glove at 18:15 of the third period and extended Vancouver’s lead to six-goals.

    Edler (22) and Stecher (10) each amassed their second assists of the night on Virtanen’s goal and the Canucks finished off the Bruins, 9-3.

    At the final horn, Vancouver had beaten Boston, despite trailing the Bruins in shots on goal, 37-35.

    The Canucks finished the night leading in every other stat, including blocked shots (18-6), giveaways (12-4), hits (31-29) and faceoff win% (55-46).

    Vancouver wrapped up Saturday night’s action 1/3 on the skater advantage, while the B’s went 1/2 on the power play in the 60-minute effort.

    Boston fell to 6-5-3 when trailing after one period and 5-9-4 when trailing after two periods this season, while Vancouver improved to 17-3-2 when leading after one period and 21-1-1 when leading after two periods this season.

    Hughes became the 2nd Canucks rookie defender to record 40 or more assists in a season, joining Dale Tallon (14-42–56 totals) in 1970-71. Hughes joined Bryan Berard (40 in 1996-97), Janne Niinimaa (40 in 1996-97) and Nicklas Lidstrom (49 in 1991-92) as just the fourth rookie defender in the last 30 years to amass at least 40 assists in a single season.

    Vancouver became the third different team this season to score nine goals, joining the Lightning (9-3, win against the New York Rangers on Nov. 14, 2019 and a, 9-2, win against Vancouver on Jan. 7, 2020) and Colorado Avalanche (9-4, win against the Nashville Predators on Nov. 7, 2019).

    Boston finished their four-game road trip (3-1-0).

    The B’s return home for a two-game homestand on Tuesday, Feb. 25th and Thursday, Feb. 27th for meetings with the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

  • B’s comeback to win, 4-3, in Calgary

    After giving up two quick goals in the first period, the Boston Bruins came back to defeat the Calgary Flames, 4-3, on Friday night at Scotiabank Saddledome.

    Jaroslav Halak (16-6-6 record, 2.33 goals against average, .920 save percentage in 28 games played) made 18 saves on 21 shots against for an .857 SV% in the win.

    Flames goaltender, Cam Talbot (9-10-1, 2.83 GAA, .914 SV% in 23 games played) stopped 19 out of 23 shots faced for an .826 SV% in the loss.

    The Bruins improved to 39-11-12 (90 points) on the season and remain in 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while Calgary fell to 31-25-6 (68 points) and remained in 4th place in the Pacific Division.

    Boston also improved to 18-9-3 on the road this season with the victory and the B’s have now won 11 out of their last 12 games.

    For just the seventh time in NHL history, a team that gave up three goals in the opening four minutes of a game came back to win as Calgary scored three goals in a little over three minutes into Friday’s action, but lost.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) on Friday, while Connor Clifton (upper body) is still with the Providence Bruins (AHL) on a conditioning stint.

    B’s head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few minor changes to his lineup from Wednesday night’s, 2-1, overtime win in Edmonton– swapping Danton Heinen and Karson Kuhlman on the second and third line right wings (reuniting Heinen with Jake DeBrusk and David Krejci and Kuhlman with Anders Bjork and Charlie Coyle in the process).

    Cassidy also re-inserted Anton Blidh on the fourth line left wing while scratching Joakim Nordstrom in the process.

    Earlier in the day on Friday, Boston General Manager, Don Sweeney, made a trade with Anaheim Ducks GM, Bob Murray– sending David Backes, defensive prospect, Axel Andersson and Boston’s 2020 1st round pick to the Ducks for Ondrej Kase.

    Boston retained 25% of Backes’ contract ($1.500 million through the 2020-21 season) in the transaction. Kase won’t join the team until Monday, when the Bruins are back from their current road trip and back to practice at Warrior Ice Arena.

    Kase has not played since Feb. 7th with “flu-like symptoms”, but resumed skating on Thursday with the Ducks (prior to being traded on Friday).

    Meanwhile, Nordstrom, Par Lindholm and John Moore served as healthy scratches for the Bruins on Friday.

    Calgary charged into the attacking zone and fired a shot off the post in the opening seconds of Friday night’s action.

    The puck rebounded right to the blade of Mikael Backlund (11), who promptly shot the puck past Halak as the Bruins netminder was committed to the initial shot off the iron and couldn’t recover in time.

    Rasmus Andersson (15) and Noah Hanifin (14) had the assists on Backlund’s first goal of the game 20 seconds into the first period and the Flames had the game’s first lead, 1-0.

    About two minutes later, Backlund (12) scored again on a one-timer as a result of a saucer pass from Tobias Rieder on a two-on-one break with Zdeno Chara as the lone defender for Boston.

    Rieder (6) and Matthew Tkachuk (31) tallied the assists on Backlund’s second goal of the game and Calgary jumped out to a, 2-0, lead at 2:24 of the first period.

    Not to be outdone, Patrice Bergeron (28) responded quickly after a shot from the point was deflected wide and caromed off the end boards to Bergeron in the slot for the backhand goal 24 seconds after the Flames extended their lead to two-goals.

    David Pastrnak (42) and Charlie McAvoy (22) notched the assists on Bergeron’s first goal of the night as the B’s cut Calgary’s lead in half, 2-1, at 2:58 of the first period.

    Less than a minute later, Johnny Gaudreau (15) beat Halak with a backhand shot and put the Flames back in command of a two-goal lead.

    Elias Lindholm (22) had the only assist on Gaudreau’s goal at 3:23 and Calgary led, 3-1.

    Then for a short period of time (less than three minutes) neither team scored a goal.

    But Bergeron wasn’t done scoring for the night as the lively boards at Scotiabank Saddledome worked in his favor once more and Bergeron (29) pocketed his second goal of the night on Talbot to pull the B’s within one-goal once more.

    Pastrnak (43) and Brad Marchand (53) were credited with the assists on Bergeron’s second goal and the Bruins trailed, 3-2, at 6:12 of the first period.

    Less than 30 seconds after the ensuing faceoff after Bergeron’s goal, Matt Grzelcyk leveled Rieder with a huge hit in the neutral zone, but was dealt a minor infraction for elbowing– yielding the first power play of the game to the Flames at 6:33.

    Calgary didn’t convert on their first power play opportunity of the night.

    Midway through the opening frame, Kuhlman sent Coyle into the attacking zone on a breakaway, whereby Coyle (15) deked backhand to forehand and wired a shot over Talbot’s glove to tie the game, 3-3, at 12:20 of the first period.

    Kuhlman (5) and Bjork (10) tallied the assists on Coyle’s goal as the tow teams entered the first intermission deadlocked, 3-3, on the scoreboard, despite Boston leading in shots on goal, 12-6.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in blocked shots (7-2) and faceoff win percentage (62-38), while the Flames led in giveaways (6-3) and hits (7-6).

    Both teams had one takeaway aside, while Calgary was 0/1 on the power play. Boston did not see any time on the skater advantage in the entire game.

    Less than a minute into the middle frame, Marchand (24) redirected a shot from Brandon Carlo and gave Boston their first lead of the night, 4-3, at 52 seconds of the second period.

    Carlo (14) and Torey Krug (33) had the assists on Marchand’s goal and both teams combined for seven goals in the game in the first 21 minutes of action.

    Nobody scored again for the rest of the night, however.

    Midway through the second period, Jeremy Lauzon dropped the gloves with Tkachuk and the two players were sent to the box with fighting majors at 10:17 of the middle frame.

    It was the 14th fight this season for Boston and the first career fighting major for the rookie Bruins defender, Lauzon.

    Through 40 minutes of play in Calgary, the B’s led the Flames, 4-3, on the scoreboard and, 17-11, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in blocked shots (12-6) and giveaways (9-8), while Calgary held the advantage in takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (55-45).

    Both teams had 16 hits aside and the Flames were still 0/1 on the power play.

    Early in the final frame, Bergeron tripped up Derek Ryan and was assessed a minor infraction at 5:55 of the third period.

    Calgary didn’t score on the ensuing power play.

    There were no goals and no more penalties scored in the final frame of regulation as both teams swapped chances and both goaltenders found their rhythm.

    Flames interim head coach, Geoff Ward, pulled Talbot for an extra attacker with about a minute left in the game, but it was to no avail as the Bruins won, 4-3, at the final horn.

    Boston finished Friday night’s effort leading in shots on goal (23-21), blocked shots (19-9), while Calgary ended the night leading in hits (22-20) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    Both teams had 11 giveaways each and the Flames ended the night 0/2 on the power play.

    The Bruins have now won 11 out of their last 12 games and improved to 11-2-6 when tied after one period and 24-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston also improved to 16-4-4 when allowing the game’s first goal this season, while Calgary fell to 17-7-3 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    The Flames also fell to 10-10-2 when tied after one period and 7-24-2 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston wraps up their four-game road trip (3-0-0) on Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks.

    The B’s return home for a two-game homestand on Feb. 25th and Feb. 27th for meetings with the Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

  • Pastrnak, Bruins, beat Oilers, 2-1, in OT

    David Pastrnak lifted the Boston Bruins over the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1, in overtime with his game-winning breakaway goal about a minute into the extra frame at Rogers Place on Wednesday night.

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (23-5-6 record, 2.04 goals against average, .932 save percentage in 35 games played) made 28 saves on 29 shots against for a .966 SV% in the win.

    Oilers goaltender, Mike Smith (16-10-5 record, 2.89 GAA, .905 SV% in 33 games played), stopped 32 shots out of 34 shots faced for a .941 SV% in the overtime loss.

    Boston improved to 38-11-12 (88 points) on the season and maintained their dominance atop the Atlantic Division, while Edmonton fell to 32-21-7 (71 points), but remained in command of the Pacific Division.

    With the win, the Bruins have now won 11 out of their last 13 games (including ten out of their last 11 games) and improved to 17-9-3 on the road this season.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body/AHL conditioning loan) on Wednesday, while Par Lindholm, John Moore and Anton Blidh served as healthy scratches for the B’s.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Sunday afternoon’s, 3-1, victory in New York against the Rangers.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Pastrnak worked the puck to Brad Marchand as the veteran winger brought the rubber biscuit into the attacking zone along the boards.

    Marchand flipped a quick pass to Patrice Bergeron (27) in the slot, whereby Bergeron deked and got a forehand shot around Smith to give Boston the game’s first lead, 1-0, at 8:28 of the first period.

    Bergeron’s goal was assisted by Marchand (52) and Pastrnak (41) as No. 37 in black and gold amassed his fifth goal in his last six games.

    About 90 seconds later, Ethan Bear slashed Marchand and was assessed a minor infraction, yielding the game’s first power play to the Bruins at 10:56.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play opportunity.

    A few minutes after the Oilers killed off Bear’s minor, Joakim Nordstrom tripped up Gaetan Haas and presented Edmonton with their first power play of the night at 15:12, but the Oilers’ skater advantage was short lived.

    Kailer Yamamoto caught Charlie Coyle with a high stick at 16:07 of the first period and drew some blood– resulting in a four-minute double minor infraction assessed to Yamamoto and 4-on-4 action for a span of 1:05 before Boston had an abbreviated extended power play.

    After 20 minutes of action in Edmonton, the Bruins were leading the Oilers, 1-0, on the scoreboard and, 10-2, in shots on goal.

    Edmonton held the advantage in blocked shots (10-4), giveaways (6-5) and faceoff win percentage (67-33), while Boston led in takeaways (5-4) and hits (9-7).

    The Oilers were 0/1 on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 0/3 on the power play entering the first intermission.

    Early in the middle frame, Adam Larsson slashed Marchand and was sent to the sin bin at 3:37 of the second period.

    Boston did not score on the ensuing power play– a trend which lasted the entire night for the Bruins.

    Moments later, Torey Krug tripped up Haas and cut a rut to the penalty box at 6:49, but Edmonton didn’t capitalize on the resulting power play.

    Just past the midpoint of Wednesday night’s action, Bergeron was called for hooking Bear at 10:56 as Boston was forced to kill off back-to-back penalties.

    While on the power play, Oilers forward, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was penalized for holding the stick while tying up Coyle from entering the neutral zone and assessed a minor penalty at 12:15– resulting in 41 seconds of 4-on-4 action before the Bruins had an abbreviated power play.

    Through two periods of play at Rogers Place, Boston still held a, 1-0, lead over Edmonton, despite trailing the Oilers, 20-19, in shots on goal heading into the second intermission.

    Edmonton actually held an, 18-9, advantage in shots on goal in the second period alone, while also leading in blocked shots (16-9), takeaways (5-4) and faceoff win% (64-36) after 40 minutes of action.

    Boston held the advantage in giveaways (10-9) and hits (18-15) as neither team had mustered a power play goal– with the Oilers operating at 0/3 and the B’s at 0/5 on the skater advantage.

    Karson Kuhlman tripped Caleb Jones at 1:59 of the third period and presented Edmonton with a power play early in the final frame.

    This time the Oilers took advantage of their skater advantage as Bear wired a shot from the point that Sam Gagner (5) deflected over Rask’s glove from in front of the net.

    Bear (14) and Nugent-Hopkins (30) were credited with the primary and secondary assists as the Oilers tied the game, 1-1, with Gagner’s power play goal at 3:42 of the third period.

    Less than a couple minutes later, Edmonton had too many skaters on the ice at what was supposed to be regular 5-on-5 action. As a result, the Oilers were charged with a bench minor for too many men at 5:25 and Yamamoto was elected to serve the infraction.

    Moments later, after failing to capitalize on their legal skater advantage, the Bruins found themselves shorthanded once again as Nordstrom was dealt a roughing minor at 9:34 after a fracas developed behind the Boston net.

    Edmonton didn’t score on the resulting power play and, in fact, cut short their own skater advantage when Darnell Nurse slashed Coyle to breakup a shorthanded breakaway for the Bruins center.

    Nurse was sent to the box at 11:10 and the two teams skated 4-on-4 once more for 24 seconds before Boston went on an abbreviated power play.

    Late in the period, Pastrnak tripped up William Lagesson and was sent to the box at 17:30, but the Oilers weren’t able to score on their last power play of the night.

    At the end of regulation, the game was tied, 1-1, despite the Bruins holding the advantage in shots on goal, 33-29.

    Edmonton led in blocked shots (17-12), takeaways (8-7) and faceoff win% (62-28), while both teams had 15 giveaways and 22 hits aside.

    As there were no penalties called in the overtime period, the Oilers finished 1/6 and the Bruins finished 0/7 on the power play.

    Cassidy started Coyle, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy in overtime, while Oilers head coach, Dave Tippett, opted for Leon Draisaitl, Yamamoto and Bear.

    A little over a minute into the extra action, David Krejci sent Pastrnak on a breakaway into the attacking zone with a lead pass through the neutral zone.

    Pastrnak (43) deked and sent a backhand shot through Smith’s five-hole– clinching the game-winning overtime goal in the process– and lifting the Bruins over the Oilers, 2-1, in overtime.

    Krejci (27) and Krug (32) notched the assists on Pastrnak’s goal at 1:14 of the overtime period.

    Boston finished the night leading in shots on goal (34-29), while Edmonton wrapped up Wednesday night with the advantage in blocked shots (19-12), giveaways (16-15) and faceoff win% (62-38).

    Both teams finished the night with 22 hits each, while the Oilers fell to 3-5 in overtime this season.

    Boston, in the meantime, improved to 5-5 in overtime this season, while Pastrnak recorded his 25th multi-point game this season with a goal and an assist in Wednesday night’s effort.

    The Bruins improved to 23-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 22-5-3 when leading after the first period and 23-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    The B’s also improved to 5-5 in overtime this season and 5-12 past regulation overall.

    Boston continues their four-game road trip (2-0-0) with stops against the Calgary Flames on Friday and Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

    The Bruins return home for a two-game homestand on Feb. 25th and Feb. 27th for meetings with the Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

  • Halak, B’s beat Rangers, 3-1

    The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers, 3-1, at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon and swept their regular season series (3-0-0) against New York for the first time since the 2013-14 season.

    Jaroslav Halak (15-6-6 record, 2.31 goals against average, .922 save percentage in 27 games played) stopped 25 out of 26 shots faced for a .962 SV% in the win for the Bruins.

    Rangers goaltender, Alexandar Georgiev (14-12-1, 2.98 GAA, .912 SV% in 28 games played) made 31 saves on 33 shots against for a .939 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 37-11-12 (86 points) on the season and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while New York fell to 30-24-4 (64 points) and in 7th place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The B’s also improved to 16-9-3 on the road this season and have won ten out of their last 12 games.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) on Sunday as the Bruins defender has yet to make his season debut due to lingering issues from his knee injury last season and subsequent re-injuries since then.

    Connor Clifton (upper body), while listed as “day-to-day” since being injured against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 29th, was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) ahead of Sunday’s contest as part of a conditioning stint and is likely to return to full health with Boston in the near future.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made no changes to his lineup from Saturday’s, 4-1, win against the Detroit Red Wings, while Halak was back in the net for the first time since Feb. 5th (a, 2-1, overtime win in Chicago).

    Par Lindholm, John Moore and Anton Blidh served as Boston’s healthy scratches on Sunday.

    Midway through the opening frame, Ryan Lindgren checked Brad Marchand along the wall at the benches and got into a bit of an exchange that resulted in only the Rangers defender heading to the penalty box with a minor infraction for roughing at 11:31 of the first period.

    Boston didn’t convert on the ensuing power play.

    In the final minute of the first period, Charlie McAvoy (3) ripped a shot from the point that appeared to have redirected off a New York skater prior to the puck floating in the air and over Geogiev’s shoulder for the game’s first goal at 19:18.

    McAvoy’s goal– his third in the last six games for the B’s– was unassisted with 41.7 seconds left in the period.

    The Bruins led, 1-0, on the scoreboard entering the first intermission and, 11-9, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in giveaways (4-3), while New York led in blocked shots (6-4), hits (11-6) and faceoff win percentage (52-48). Both teams had one takeaway aside.

    The Rangers had yet to see time on the skater advantage and the Bruins were 0/1 on the power play heading into the second period.

    Early in the middle frame, David Krejci caught Lindgren with a high stick on a follow through while both players went after a bouncing puck.

    Krejci’s high stick drew blood and resulted in a four-minute double minor penalty at 5:06 of the second period. The Rangers failed to capitalize on the lengthy power play.

    Late in the period, Marchand cross checked Lindgren after the Rangers defender shoved Bruins forward, Patrice Bergeron, after a stoppage in play in front of the New York net.

    Marchand was assessed a minor infraction at 17:14 and the Rangers went on the power play.

    While on the ensuing penalty kill, Charlie Coyle (14) stole the puck from New York defender, Jacob Trouba, and created his own breakaway before elevating the puck over Georgiev’s glove side to give Boston a two-goal lead.

    Coyle’s short handed goal was unassisted and gave the Bruins a, 2-0, lead at 18:42 of the second period.

    Less than a minute later, after killing off Marchand’s minor, Boston went on the power play after Mika Zibanejad tripped up Marchand in Boston’s own zone at 19:33.

    The B’s did not score on the resulting power play.

    After two periods of play, the Bruins led, 2-0, on the scoreboard and in shots on goal, 24-17.

    The B’s also held the advantage in takeaways (5-4), hits (18-17) and faceoff win% (56-44), while the Rangers led in blocked shots (10-8) and giveaways (14-8).

    New York was 0/3 on the power play and Boston was 0/2 on the skater advantage heading into the third period.

    Karson Kuhlman kicked off the final frame with an interference minor infraction against Marc Staal at 4:23 of the third period. The Rangers did not score on the resulting power play, but got another chance almost midway through the final frame.

    Torey Krug tripped up Zibanejad at 9:05 and presented New York with their fifth power play opportunity of the afternoon.

    Less than a minute into the ensuing skater advantage, Zibanejad (25) rocketed a shot from the point that ricocheted off a Bruins player’s stick and into the twine behind Halak– cutting Boston’s lead in half, 2-1.

    Artemi Panarin (49) and Ryan Strome (36) tallied the assists on Zibanejad’s goal at 9:52 of the third period and New York surged in momentum.

    Boston was able to withstand the Rangers’ rally as New York’s head coach, David Quinn, pulled Georgiev for an extra attacker with 90 seconds remaining in regulation.

    After the Bruins iced the puck with 35.5 seconds left in the game, the Rangers used their timeout to draw up one last plan in effort to tie the game, but it was to no avail as the B’s worked the puck out of their own zone upon the ensuing faceoff.

    Marchand found Bergeron (26) in the dying seconds of the game for the empty net goal that assured Boston of the, 3-1, victory.

    Bergeron’s goal was assisted by Marchand (51) at 19:47 of the third period and sealed the deal for the Bruins as the final horn sounded 12.2 seconds later.

    Boston finished the afternoon with a “W” in the win column and the lead in shots on goal (34-26) and faceoff win% (55-45), while New York finished the game with the advantage in blocked shots (16-12), giveaways (20-12) and hits (29-25).

    The Rangers finished Sunday’s effort 1/5 on the power play, while the Bruins went 0/2 on the skater advantage.

    The Bruins improved to 22-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 21-5-3 when leading after the first period and 22-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    New York, on the other hand, fell to 10-16-1 when they allow the game’s first goal, 5-14-2 when trailing after the first period and 2-18-0 when trailing after two periods this season.

    Boston continues their four-game road trip (1-0-0) with stops against the Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday (Feb. 19th), Calgary Flames on Friday (Feb. 21st) and Vancouver Canucks next Saturday (Feb. 22nd).

    The B’s return home for a two-game homestand on Feb. 25th and Feb. 27th for meetings with the Flames and Dallas Stars, respectively, before wrapping up the month of February with a road game against the New York Islanders on Feb. 29th.

  • Bruins beat Red Wings, 4-1

    The Boston Bruins defeated the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1, at TD Garden on Saturday afternoon– marking their first win against the the Red Wings in their last six regular season meetings.

    Tuukka Rask (22-5-6 record, 2.08 goals against average, .931 save percentage in 34 games played) made 25 saves on 26 shots against for a .962 SV% in the win for the B’s.

    Red Wings goaltender, Jonathan Bernier (12-17-2, 2.90 GAA, .908 SV% in 35 games played), stopped 37 out of 41 shots faced for a .902 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 36-11-12 (84 points) and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while Detroit fell to 14-42-4 (32 points) and remained stuck in last place in the Atlantic.

    The Bruins also improved to 21-2-9 at home this season, while Bruce Cassidy picked up his 200th career win as an NHL head coach. He is 153-63-34 in 250 games as Boston’s head coach.

    Also of note, David Krejci suited up in his 900th career NHL game on Saturday and became the 7th Bruin in franchise history to play in 900 games or more.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee) and Connor Clifton (upper body) on Saturday, while Par Lindholm, John Moore and Anton Blidh served as the only healthy scratches for the B’s.

    Cassidy made one change to his lineup, replacing Moore on the blue line with Jeremy Lauzon– back from his two-game suspension and fresh off a two-year extension that goes into effect next season worth $850,000 per season.

    Gustav Lindstrom kicked things off with a holding minor 2:25 into the first period, but the Bruins weren’t able to capitalize on their first power play opportunity of the afternoon.

    In fact, while on the skater advantage, Boston allowed a short handed goal against as Darren Helm (9) poked in a rebound that Rask tried to clear, but fumbled at 3:12.

    Helm’s goal was unassisted and gave Detroit a, 1-0, lead as the opponent scored the game’s first goal for the 16th time this season at TD Garden.

    Late in the opening frame, Adam Erne cross checked Chris Wagner and was sent to the penalty box at 18:28, but the Bruins didn’t convert on the ensuing power play– even as it extended into the second period.

    After one period of play, the Red Wings led, 1-0, on the scoreboard, despite the fact that the B’s led in shots on goal, 18-6.

    Detroit held the advantage in blocked shots (5-0), takeaways (4-2) and hits (12-10), while Boston led in giveaways (2-1) and faceoff win percentage (63-37).

    The Red Wings had yet to see any time on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 0/2 on the power play entering the first intermission.

    Midway through the middle frame, Charlie McAvoy (2) scooped up a rebound that rolled all the way to the point and worked his way into the slot before snapping a shot below Bernier’s blocker– tying the game, 1-1, in the process.

    McAvoy’s goal was unassisted at 8:01 of the second period and kicked off a run of three goals in a 4:29 span for Boston.

    Krejci hooked Andreas Athanasiou at 8:25 and presented Detroit with their first power play of the game, but the Red Wings were powerless on the power play and allowed a short handed goal against instead.

    While short handed, Brad Marchand worked the puck deep into the attacking zone before dropping a pass back to Patrice Bergeron (25) while No. 37 in black and gold broke into the slot, deked and scored a backhand goal while Bernier dropped to a hybrid stance.

    Marchand (49) had the only assist on Bergeron’s goal and the Bruins led for the first time of the afternoon, 2-1, at 9:40 of the second period with a pair of goals in a 1:39 span.

    Almost a few minutes later, McAvoy ripped a shot from the point that Charlie Coyle (13) tipped in from the slot to give Boston a two-goal lead.

    McAvoy (21) and Danton Heinen (15) notched the assists on the goal and the Bruins led, 3-1, at 12:30.

    Less than a minute after Coyle’s goal, Lauzon was called for interference against Christoffer Ehn at 13:10 and yielded a power play to Detroit, but once more the Red Wings power play couldn’t put it together.

    Late in the period, McAvoy was sent to the box for holding against Robby Fabbri at 18:12. Detroit did not score on the resulting power play.

    Through 40 minutes of action on Saturday, the Bruins led, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 30-14, in shots on goal. Boston also held the advantage in giveaways (4-3) and faceoff win% (60-40), while Detroit led in hits (21-20).

    Both teams had five blocked shots and five takeaways aside, while the Red Wings were 0/3 and the B’s were 0/2 on the power play heading into the final frame.

    Midway through the third period, Marchand dangled around Athanasiou while entering the attacking zone and sent a pass to David Pastrnak (42) for a one-timer that beat Bernier and extended Boston’s lead to three-goals.

    Marchand (50) amassed his 50th assist of the season on Pastrnak’s goal, which established a new career-high in points (82) for Pastrnak and the third consecutive season of 50 or more assists for Marchand.

    Pastrnak’s goal made it, 4-1, for the Bruins at 13:03 of the third period.

    A few minutes later, while battling in the corner in Boston’s own zone, Athanasiou delivered a quick shove to Wagner’s face, which led to Wagner dropping the gloves and engaging Athanasiou in a fight at 16:39.

    Both players received five-minute majors for fighting and an early exit from the game as a result.

    At the final horn, the Bruins defeated the Red Wings, 4-1, and emerged victorious with the advantage in shots on goal (41-26), blocked shots (10-6) and faceoff win% (64-36).

    Detroit finished the afternoon leading in hits (30-27), while both teams amassed five giveaways aside.

    The Red Wings finished the game 0/3 on the power play, while the B’s went 0/2.

    Rask improved to 14-0-6 at TD Garden this season, which is the best point streak at home to start a season in Bruins franchise history and tied Tiny Thompson’s franchise record for the longest home point streak overall.

    Thompson had a 20-0-0 span in the 1929-30 season for Boston.

    The Bruins improved to 6-4-3 when trailing after one period and 21-1-6 when leading after two periods this season with the win.

    Boston begins a four-game road trip with stops against the New York Rangers on Sunday, Edmonton Oilers next Wednesday (Feb. 19th), Calgary Flames next Friday (Feb. 21st) and Vancouver Canucks next Saturday (Feb. 22nd).

  • Pastrnak’s hat trick propels Bruins over Habs, 4-1

    For the second time this season, David Pastrnak recorded a hat trick against the Montreal Canadiens as the Boston Bruins defeated the Habs, 4-1, at TD Garden on Wednesday night.

    Pastrnak regained the lead as top goal scorer in the league with 41 goals so far this season and became the first player since Gordie Howe to score multiple hat tricks against Montreal in the same season (Howe did so back in 1951-52).

    Bruins goaltender, Tuukka Rask (21-5-6 record, 2.11 goals against average, .930 save percentage in 33 games played), made 28 saves on 29 shots against for a .966 SV% in the win.

    Canadiens netminder, Carey Price (24-20-4, 2.73 GAA, .913 SV% in 48 games played) stopped 34 out of 37 shots faced for a .919 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 35-11-12 (82 points) on the season and remained atop the entire league, while Montreal fell to 27-25-7 (61 points) and stayed put in 5th place in the Atlantic Division.

    The B’s also improved to 20-2-9 at home this season and have won eight out of their last ten games.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Jeremy Lauzon (suspension) on Wednesday.

    Lauzon wrapped up his two game suspension from last Saturday’s, 4-2, win against the Arizona Coyotes for an illegal hit to the head of Coyotes forward, Derek Stepan.

    Meanwhile, Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made a few minor changes among his forwards against the Canadiens.

    Joakim Nordstrom was back in the lineup after missing the last four games due to allergy related complications and resumed his usual role on the fourth line left wing– reuniting the Nordstrom, Sean Kuraly and Chris Wagner trio.

    Cassidy moved Danton Heinen to the third line right wing with Anders Bjork at left wing and Charlie Coyle down the middle.

    As a result, Par Lindholm joined Anton Blidh as Boston’s only healthy scratches against Montreal as Urho Vaakanainen was reassigned to the Providence Bruins (AHL) late Sunday night after being recalled on an emergency basis.

    Wednesday night marked the 750th all time regular season matchup between the B’s and Habs. Montreal has won 363 of those matches, while Boston has now won 284 of them. The two clubs tied in 103 times in that span.

    Almost midway through the opening frame, Brad Marchand snaked his way into the attacking zone and through Montreal’s defense before curling a pass to Pastrnak (39) for a one-timer into the back of the twine– giving Boston the game’s first lead, 1-0.

    Marchand (47) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s goal– his 39th of the season, which established a new career-high in goals for No. 88 in black and gold– at 6:59 of the first period.

    The pair of wingers on Boston’s first line each have amassed at least 70 points in the last four seasons– marking the 10th time a Bruins player has recorded 70-plus points in four or more consecutive seasons.

    Just past the midpoint of the first period, the Canadiens made an error in judgment and had too many skaters on the ice– yielding the first power play of the night to the Bruins at 10:32, but Boston did not convert on the ensuing legal skater advantage.

    Late in the opening frame, Marchand got tangled up with Jeff Petry in front of the Montreal net as the two players exchanged shoves and roughing penalties (with Marchand earning an extra slashing minor in the process).

    The Canadiens had their first power play of the night at 18:48 of the first period while Heinen served Marchand’s extra minor in the box.

    Montreal’s power play would extend into the second period as the two teams entered the first intermission with the B’s in the lead on the scoreboard, 1-0, and in shots on goal, 11-10.

    After one period of play, Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (6-2) and takeaways (2-0), while the Habs led in hits (12-11) and faceoff win percentage (53-47).

    Both teams had four giveaways aside and were 0/1 on the power play heading into the middle frame.

    The Habs began the second period with 48 seconds remaining on their power play, but their special teams were no match for Boston’s penalty kill fresh off the intermission as the Bruins killed off Marchand’s minor.

    Moments later, Pastrnak (40) tallied his second goal of the game after Kuraly fed Pastrnak with pass while on a two-on-one break-in that led to Pastrnak deking and scoring top-shelf while Price dove in desperation.

    Kuraly (15) had the only assist on Pastrnak’s goal and the B’s led, 2-0, at 4:16 of the second period.

    For the first time since Glen Murray tallied 44 goals in the 2002-03 season, a Bruin recorded 40 or more goals in a season as Pastrnak reached and surpassed the 40-goal plateau.

    He also required the fewest games (58) by a Bruins player to score 40 goals in a season since Cam Neely reached 40 goals in 36 games played in 1993-94 (which is also the fastest in franchise history to reach 40 goals).

    Less than a minute later, Marco Scandella ripped a shot from the point that went off of Nick Suzuki’s (12) hip and past Rask– cutting Boston’s lead in half, 2-1, and putting the Habs on the scoreboard.

    Scandella (8) had the only assist on Suzuki’s unintentional redirection goal at 4:52 of the second period.

    Shortly thereafter, Heinen slashed Artturi Lehkonen and was sent to the box at 5:38.

    Prior to the ensuing faceoff on the power play for Montreal, Zdeno Chara and Brendan Gallagher exchanged pleasantries with Chara promptly delivering a swift cross check to Gallagher and Gallagher receiving a roughing minor as the two were sent to their respective penalty boxes with Heinen already in Boston’s sin bin at 5:38 of the middle frame.

    The Canadiens didn’t convert on the resulting power play.

    Late in the second period, the nastiness continued with Jonathan Drouin and Wagner exchanging shoves and receiving roughing infractions at 14:32.

    While on the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Joel Armia took a penalty for roughing against Torey Krug at 15:14 and yielded a 4-on-3 advantage for Boston for an abbreviated 1:19 span.

    Montreal failed to clear a rebound in the resulting zone time for the Bruins as Patrice Bergeron battled Petry’s net front presence before the loose puck ended up on Pastrnak’s stick.

    Pastrnak (41) slid the rubber biscuit through Price’s five-hole into the far side of the goal for his fourth hat trick of the season and first since Jan. 9th against the Winnipeg Jets.

    Pastrnak’s hat trick goal was unassisted at 15:45 of the second period as Pastrnak joined Washington Capitals prolific goal scorer, Alex Ovechkin, as the only other active player to score nine hat tricks (including regular season and playoffs) prior to his 24th birthday.

    Pastrnak’s third goal of the game was also his eighth goal against Montreal this season and left him second to Phil Esposito in Bruins franchise history for the most hat tricks in a single season– Pastrnak has four thus far, while Esposito notched seven hat tricks in the 1970-71 season for Boston.

    Shortly after play resumed, Kuraly bumped into his own defender, Charlie McAvoy, and went down the tunnel, but returned to play unharmed ahead of the third period.

    Entering the second intermission, the B’s led the Habs, 3-1, on the scoreboard and, 26-19, in shots on goal through 40 minutes of play.

    Boston held the advantage in blocked shots (11-2) and takeaways (4-1), while Montreal led in giveaways (8-6) and faceoff win% (56-44).

    Both teams recorded 17 hits aside after two periods of action. The Canadiens were 0/2 on the skater advantage, while the Bruins were 1/2 on the power play heading into the final period.

    Early in the final frame, McAvoy sent the puck off the boards and out of play, but received an automatic delay of game penalty despite the on-ice officials convening to determine if the puck had gone clearly out of play or otherwise (it was evident via replay that the puck glanced off the boards, changed direction and traveled out of the playing surface, but alas, delay of game penalties of this nature cannot be subject to video review).

    So the Canadiens went on the power play at 4:19 of the third period, but the Habs continued to struggle on the skater advantage.

    Gallagher tried to get under the skin of Bruins defender, John Moore, in the dying seconds of Montreal’s power play in effort to yield an extension on the advantage, but Moore was not biting and Gallagher actually caught the B’s defender with a high stick at 6:18, reversing the skater advantage from the Habs to Boston.

    Despite being presented with another power play opportunity of the night, the Bruins failed to convert while Gallagher was in the box.

    With about 2:34 remaining in the game, Canadiens head coach, Claude Julien, pulled Price for an extra attacker to try to muster a pair of goals for his team in the dying minutes of the game.

    Despite using his team’s timeout after a stoppage with 43.7 seconds remaining, Montreal’s last ditch effort was no match for Boston’s strong defense and forward progression.

    Pastrnak flipped the puck down the ice whereby Marchand won a battle along the boards and was able to free the puck to Bergeron (24) for the empty net goal that sealed the deal on Boston’s, 4-1, victory.

    Marchand (48) had the only assist on Bergeron’s empty netter at 19:40 of the third period and finished the night with a pair of helpers.

    At the final horn the Bruins had won and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 38-29, with the final score reading as a, 4-1, win over the Canadiens.

    Boston wrapped up Wednesday night ahead of Montreal in blocked shots (13-6), as well, while the Habs finished the game leading in giveaways (10-8), hits (27-25) and faceoff win% (58-42).

    The Canadiens went 0/3 on the skater advantage and the B’s went 1/3 on the power play in Wednesday night’s matchup.

    Rask extended his franchise record for longest point streak to open a season at home– improving to 13-0-6 at TD Garden this season with the win.

    The Bruins also improved to 20-5-3 when leading after the first period, 20-1-6 when leading after two periods and 21-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    Boston wraps up their two-game homestand against the Detroit Red Wings next Saturday (Feb. 15th) before going on a four-game road trip with stops against the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers, Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks.

  • Rask, Bruins shutout Canucks, 4-0

    The Boston Bruins extended their current winning streak to four games with a, 4-0, shutout victory over the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night at TD Garden.

    Tuukka Rask (19-4-6 record, 2.15 goals against average, .929 save percentage in 30 games played) made 25 saves on 25 shots against in the win for his 3rd shutout this season (48th career shutout).

    In addition, Rask tied Gilles Gilbert’s Bruins franchise record set in 1970-71 for the longest home point streak to start a season. Rask is 11-0-6 through 17 individual games played on home ice this season.

    Canucks goaltender, Jacob Markstrom (20-14-3, 2.74 GAA, .917 SV% in 37 games played), stopped 38 out of 42 shots faced for a .905 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 32-10-12 (76 points) on the season and remained in command of 1st place in the Atlantic Division, while Vancouver fell to 30-19-5 (65 points), but held onto their 1st place standing in the Pacific Division.

    The B’s have won five out of their last six games and also improved to 18-2-9 at home this season as a result of the win.

    Editor’s note: Welcome back to our regular coverage of Bruins recaps after a little extended vacation on both ends of the All Star break. It might happen again, possibly forever. Stay tuned.

    If you weren’t already aware, Boston defeated the Vegas Golden Knights (3-2, on Jan. 21st at TD Garden), as well as the Winnipeg Jets (2-1, on Jan. 31st at Bell MTS Place) and the Minnesota Wild (6-1, on Feb. 1st at Xcel Energy Center) while our coverage was on holiday.

    The Bruins were without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body) and Joakim Nordstrom (allergy complications) against the Canucks on Tuesday.

    Boston head coach, Bruce Cassidy, made minor changes to his lineup from Saturday night’s win in Minnesota.

    The first line comprised of the usual “Perfection Line” trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak, while the second line featured Jake DeBrusk at left wing, David Krejci at center and Karson Kuhlman on the right wing.

    Sean Kuraly was back in the lineup on the left side of the third line with Charlie Coyle down the middle and Anders Bjork on the right side, while Anton Blidh, Par Lindholm and Chris Wagner made up the fourth line.

    On defense, Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy continued to serve as the top pairing with Torey Krug and Brandon Carlo filling out the rest of the top-4 defenders.

    Matt Grzelcyk suited up on the third pairing alongside Jeremy Lauzon, while John Moore and Danton Heinen served as Boston’s only healthy scratches Tuesday night.

    Late in the opening frame, Coyle (10) scooped up a loose puck on a rebound and elevated a quick backhand over Markstrom’s glove to give Boston the game’s first goal.

    McAvoy (18) and Bjork (8) tallied the assists on Coyle’s goal at 14:24 of the first period and the Bruins led, 1-0.

    But there was a catch (sort of).

    Canucks head coach, Travis Green, used his coach’s challenge on the basis that Vancouver was asking to review whether or not McAvoy had entered the zone offside– therefore negating the play that ultimately led to the goal, thus getting rid of the goal.

    However, after review, it was determined that the call on the ice stood and the Bruins had indeed scored a good goal when the officials confirmed via video that McAvoy did not actually skate over the blue line with the puck on his stick while Kuraly was making an effort to get back onside.

    McAvoy had somehow sidestepped for a split second while Kuraly checked up, then proceeded to touch the puck after assuring that he and his teammate were in the clear.

    Boston led, 1-0, and Vancouver was charged with a bench minor for delay of game at 14:24. Jake Virtanen served the time in the box for the Canucks.

    Entering the first intermission, the B’s were ahead on the scoreboard, 1-0, and led in shots on goal, 13-6.

    The Bruins also held the advantage in takeaways (4-3), giveaways (5-3), hits (9-7) and faceoff win percentage (53-47). The Canucks led in blocked shots (4-2) after one period.

    Vancouver had yet to see any time on the skater advantage, while Boston was 0/1 on the power play through 20 minutes of action Tuesday night.

    Early in the middle frame, Troy Stecher sent the puck over the glass and out of the playing surface– yielding an automatic delay of game minor infraction at 5:45 of the second period.

    The Canucks followed up their already shorthanded bid with another penalty about a minute later after Alexander Edler tripped up Marchand at 6:46.

    Boston had an abbreviated 5-on-3 advantage, but could not convert on the power play.

    Instead, the Bruins followed suit with a minor penalty of their own in the vulnerable minute after their advantage as Bjork hooked Canucks captain, Bo Horvat, at 9:48 of the second period.

    Vancouver did not capitalized on their first power play opportunity of the night.

    Late in the second period, Grzelcyk kickstarted a play from his own zone through the neutral zone whereby Marchand sent the puck to Bergeron for a quick redirection to McAvoy as the Bruins defender was gathering speed into the attacking zone.

    McAvoy then sent the puck back to Bergeron who then found Marchand (23) to give Boston a two-goal advantage at 15:35.

    Bergeron (21) and McAvoy (19) had the assists and the B’s led, 2-0.

    Less than 30 seconds later, Wagner cut a rut to the penalty box for hooking against Oscar Fantenberg and presented Vancouver with another power play opportunity at 15:57.

    Once more, the Canucks were denied on the skater advantage, however, and the Bruins carried a, 2-0, lead into the second intermission, as well as a, 30-15, advantage in shots on goal through 40 minutes of play.

    Boston dominated in takeaways (6-4) and hits (20-17), while Vancouver led in blocked shots (12-6), giveaways (11-6) and faceoff win% (51-49) heading into the final frame of regulation.

    The Canucks were 0/2 on the skater advantage and the B’s were 0/3 entering the third period.

    Midway through the final frame of the game, Krug slashed Virtanen and was promptly sent to the sin bin at 12:38 of the third period.

    Canucks rookie defender, Quinn Hughes, slashed Kuraly about a minute later and yielded 4-on-4 action for a 1:01 span before the Bruins had an abbreviated 5-on-4 power play.

    While at even strength with four skaters aside, Boston extended their lead to three goals after Krejci sent Kuraly into the corner before No. 52 in black and gold fished the puck back out to Krejci (13) in the slot whereby No. 46 sent a shot past Markstrom’s glove side at 14:09 of the third period.

    The Bruins led, 3-0, as Kuraly (14) and Carlo (13) collected the assists on Krejci’s goal.

    About a minute later, Jay Beagle didn’t make an effort to avoid contact with Rask and bowled into the Boston goaltender at 15:11– receiving the ire of McAvoy, a goaltender interference minor and a misconduct at the same time.

    As a result, the B’s had about 28 seconds worth of a 5-on-3 advantage until Tyler Myers sent the puck over the glass at 16:22 and reset the 5-on-3 advantage clock to 50 seconds worth of a two-skater advantage for Boston.

    While on the advantage, Coyle fired a shot towards the net that Kuhlman (1) redirected in the slot off a Canucks defender before the puck caught Markstrom’s leg pad and strolled over the goal line for his first goal of the season.

    Coyle (19) and Grzelcyk (13) tallied the assists on Kuhlman’s goal and the Bruins led, 4-0, at 18:10.

    At the final horn, Boston secured the shutout victory and finished the night leading in shots on goal, 42-25.

    The B’s also wrapped up Tuesday night’s action with the advantage in hits (29-27), while Vancouver left TD Garden with the lead in blocked shots (14-9), giveaways (12-9) and faceoff win% (54-46).

    The Canucks went 0/3 on the power play and the Bruins went 1/6.

    Boston improved to 3-0-0 out of the All Star break and bye week, while outscoring their opponents, 12-2, in that span.

    The Bruins also improved to 20-7-8 when scoring the game’s first goal, 19-5-3 when leading after the first period and 17-1-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    The B’s take on the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center in Chicago on Wednesday before returning home for a matchup with the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday before traveling to Detroit to face the Red Wings on Sunday.

  • B’s complete effort yields, 4-1, win over Pens

    Four different players scored for the Boston Bruins in their, 4-1, victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday night at TD Garden.

    Bruins goaltender, Jaroslav Halak (11-5-6 record, 2.42 goals against average, .921 save percentage in 22 games played) made 29 saves on 30 shots against for a .967 SV% in the win.

    Penguins goaltender, Tristan Jarry (16-7-1, 2.16 GAA, .929 SV% in 24 games played) stopped 26 out of 29 shots faced for an .897 SV% in the loss.

    Boston improved to 28-9-12 (68 points) on the season and remained in command of the Atlantic Division, while Pittsburgh fell to 29-13-5 (63 points), but maintained their status in 2nd place in the Metropolitan Division.

    The B’s also improved to 16-2-9 at home this season.

    Boston was without the services of Kevan Miller (knee), Connor Clifton (upper body), Tuukka Rask (concussion) and David Krejci (upper body) on Thursday.

    Rask was placed on the injured reserve and likely will not play again until after the All Star break, while Krejci was a game-time decision, but didn’t participate in pregame warmups.

    Brett Ritchie was placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the Providence Bruins (AHL) on Wednesday and cleared waivers without any issues on Thursday. He had two goals and four assists (six points) in 27 games with Boston before being sent down to Providence.

    As a result, Karson Kuhlman was recalled from Providence and suited up in his first game with Boston since being injured in Toronto on Oct. 19th.

    Kuhlman missed 32 games with a fractured tibia before being assigned to Providence and amassing 2-1–3 totals in four games with the P-Bruins since returning to play. He had no points in eight games with Boston this season entering Thursday.

    With Rask out for at least a week, Dan Vladar was called up from Providence to be Halak’s backup for the time being.

    Vladar has a 6-5-2 record with a 1.84 GAA, a .935 SV% and two shutouts in 12 games with Providence so far this season. He has yet to make an NHL appearance in his career since being drafted by Boston in the 3rd round (75th overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft.

    Bruins head coach, Bruce Cassidy, had to make some adjustments to his lineup from Tuesday night’s, 3-0, loss in Columbus to Thursday night’s matchup with Pittsburgh.

    Cassidy left his first and fourth lines alone, but bumped up Charlie Coyle to center the second line in Krejci’s absence, while Par Lindholm was re-inserted in the lineup as the third line center in Coyle’s spot.

    Danton Heinen remained on the third line left wing, while Kuhlman made his return to the B’s lineup on the right side of Heinen and Lindholm.

    On defense, Matt Grzelcyk returned to the left side of the third pairing with John Moore on his right, while Steven Kampfer went back up to the press box on level nine of TD Garden as a healthy scratch.

    Kampfer was joined by David Backes and Anton Blidh as Boston’s trio of healthy scratches against the Penguins while Blidh looks to return from an injury sustained in the preseason.

    Prior to the action, the Bruins held a ceremony to honor Rask for surpassing 500 career NHL games earlier in the season.

    Shortly after puck drop, Sidney Crosby (7) received the puck, broke into the attacking zone and rocketed a slap shot under Halak’s glove to give the Penguins a, 1-0, lead 24 seconds into the first period.

    Dominik Simon (14) and Jack Johnson (7) had the assists on Crosby’s goal. Johnson’s secondary assist was the 300th point of his NHL career.

    Boston allowed the game’s first goal on home ice for just the 13th time this season in the process.

    Less than a minute later, Zach Aston-Reese received a roughing minor for trying to engage Charlie McAvoy in a battle after McAvoy hit Brandon Tanev along the boards.

    The Bruins went to the power play at 1:16, but did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    About seven seconds after resuming even strength play, the Penguins were shorthanded again when John Marino boarded Chris Wagner at 3:23.

    Boston’s power play was powerless on their second opportunity of the game.

    Moments later, Kris Letang and Wagner each received roughing infractions after Wagner delivered a huge hit on Tanev near the boards at 7:33.

    In the vulnerable minute after the ensuing 4-on-4 action, Sean Kuraly (4) squeaked a shot past Jarry to tie the game, 1-1.

    Kuhlman (1) and McAvoy (17) had the assists on Kuraly’s goal at 10:03 of the first period and the B’s surged in momentum.

    Almost a couple minutes later, Kuhlman was once again involved in a goal when he intentionally shot the puck from the high slot in Lindholm’s direction for Lindholm (3) to redirect the rubber biscuit past Jarry at 12:16.

    Kuhlman (2) had the only assist– his 2nd of the night– as Lindholm’s goal gave the Bruins their first lead of the night, 2-1.

    Boston managed to score a pair of goals in a 2:13 span, then followed it up with a tripping penalty when Patrice Bergeron got his stick caught under Evgeni Malkin and brought down the Pens forward at 13:19 of the first period.

    Pittsburgh was unsuccessful on the resulting power play.

    After one period of action on Thursday, the Bruins led the Penguins, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 12-10, in shots on goal.

    Boston also held the advantage in hits (14-6) and faceoff win percentage (57-44), while Pittsburgh led in blocked shots (7-4), takeaways (4-2) and giveaways (3-1).

    The Pens were 0/1 on the power play heading into the first intermission and the B’s were 0/2.

    Early in the middle frame, Wagner tripped Marino and was sent to the penalty box with a minor infraction at 1:39 of the second period.

    Pittsburgh did not score on the resulting power play.

    Midway through the second period, Anders Bjork slashed Dominik Kahun and was sent to the sin bin at 9:47. Once again, the Penguins did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

    Late in the period, Patric Hornqvist and Torey Krug exchanged words and got into a bit of a shoving match that elicited roughing penalties at 16:08.

    A few seconds after each player was released from the box and both teams resumed 5-on-5 action, Hornqvist and Krug dropped the gloves and exchanged fisticuffs in what was just the 9th fight this season for Boston.

    Both players received five-minute majors for fighting at 18:11 of the second period and got an early start on the second intermission.

    Less than a minute later, Marcus Pettersson was guilty of holding David Pastrnak and presented the Bruins with another power play at 18:41, but the B’s didn’t convert on the ensuing advantage– despite Bergeron’s best efforts of bringing a puck down from mid-air to the ice with his glove.

    Bergeron unintentionally gloved the puck over Jarry and across the goal line, but the call on the ice was “no goal” and the call stood after review.

    Meanwhile, on the ensuing power play, McAvoy fanned on a shot from the point and had to give chase to a charging shorthanded bid for the Penguins going the other way.

    Halak stood tall and denied five quick shots on goal from the Pens in the dying dozen seconds or so of the middle frame.

    Through 40 minutes of action in Boston, the Bruins led the Penguins, 2-1, on the scoreboard and, 24-20, in shots on goal.

    The B’s also led in hits (21-15) and faceoff win% (54-46), while Pittsburgh held the advantage in blocked shots (11-7), takeaways (8-4) and giveaways (10-4).

    Both teams were 0/3 on the power play entering the second intermission.

    Early in the final frame of regulation, Pastrnak dropped a pass to Bergeron (20) as the veteran first line center entered the attacking zone with speed and sent a wrist shot over Jarry’s glove and into the back of the net.

    Pastrnak (31) had the only assist on Bergeron’s goal and Boston extended their lead to two-goals at 3:19 of the third period.

    Bergeron’s goal made it, 3-1, for Boston and gave him his 11th season with 20 or more goals in his 16-year NHL career.

    Midway through the final frame, the Penguins had too many skaters on the ice and sent Hornqvist to serve the bench minor at 11:42.

    The Bruins didn’t convert on the ensuing legal skater advantage.

    With 2:28 remaining in the game, Pittsburgh’s head coach, Mike Sullivan, pulled Jarry for an extra attacker in a last ditch effort to score two quick goals to tie the game.

    The Pens followed it up with a timeout after a stoppage with 1:14 left, but the B’s held off the Penguins and their late action dominance– eventually working the puck out of the zone whereby Pastrnak had a chance to end it, but selflessly sent the puck over to Marchand (21) for the empty net goal at 19:07.

    Pastrnak (32) had the only assist on Marchand’s goal and the Bruins finished off the Penguins, 4-1.

    At the final horn, Boston secured the win in regulation and finished tied in shots on goal, 30-30, after Pittsburgh rallied to a, 10-6, advantage in shots on goal in the third period alone.

    The Penguins left TD Garden with the advantage in blocked shots (14-12), giveaways (15-6) and hits (30-23), while the Bruins finished the night leading in faceoff win% (53-47).

    Pittsburgh went 0/3 and Boston went 0/4 on the power play on Thursday.

    With the loss, the Pens fell to 19-3-2 when scoring the game’s first goal this season.

    As a result of the win, the Bruins improved to 17-4-3 when leading after the first period and 15-0-6 when leading after two periods this season.

    Boston travels to Pittsburgh to wrap up their home-and-home with the Penguins on Sunday before returning home for their last game prior to the All-Star break next Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The Bruins resume play on Friday, Jan. 31st in Winnipeg thereafter.